Your guide to being seen, available and everywhere using digital delivery solutions
We live in an amazing time. With all the technology we have at our disposal, communication barriers have been eliminated. I am convinced that to change your business world, you must adapt to the changing world as a daily practice. The evolution and constant change in the marketing landscape is a full-time job. Staying ahead of the options is quickly becoming impossible so we hope to give you some core ideas for each reader no matter what your business situation is.
So, what do you do? React as quickly as possible, which will help you from being eliminated by the competition.
The competition is not always the business or person you think of normally. The new competition is the massive influx of print and digital media on the myriad platforms available to us. The core question is always how and where do you spend your time and hard-earned money when it comes to marketing options. How do you stand out?
Let us look at the traditional ways for marketing your craft brands:
- Print media & advertising
- Mailing & flyers
- TV advertising
- Social media platforms
- Word of mouth
- Websites
Each of these has a conversion rate that, at one point in time, was acceptable, but today are not as effective in reaching every customer where he or she lives and plays. So, where is the silver lining and how can we help?
“Go mobile or go home.” Think about it. The No. 1 disruptor for the unforeseeable future is the mobile phone. There are more smartphones today than computers in the market. Mobile phones and apps are the fastest growing technology ever.
Did you know the average person spends more than three hours a day on the phone? In fact, 90% of that time is spent on an app. With the pandemic wreaking havoc, that number is climbing above the four-hour mark.
If customer engagement and conversion is what you are focusing on, then what I say next will be an eye opener. These number can be adjusted based on a stronger following by some individuals or companies, but in general, the thing to pay attention to is the GAP between email versus mobile.
Impactful Influencer
The first step in being seen is to be visible, which includes becoming an Impactful Influencer. We each have our own unique stories and special qualities that make us who we are. Each of us can make a difference in some way with those who need to hear the stories and the wisdom we gained because of the life lessons that brought us to where we are today.
Becoming an Industry Influencer takes time and learning about the tools available to us to help navigate getting our message seen and heard.
Our motto is “Be Seen ~ Be Available ~ Be Everywhere. Fortunately, there are certain things you can do to speed up your learning curve. For example, the following are five proven strategies to expand your circle of influence in your market. Try any of these and you will speed your way to being viewed as a respected, knowledgeable and influential industry leader.
1. Create a Facebook Group
Start and manage a Facebook group. The important part is how you manage that group:
Be active daily, even if it is only for a few minutes. Share, like and respond to comments and posts made by your group members.
Set aside one day a week for a one or two-hour question and answer session.
Post lots of video and infographics because they receive much more engagement than text-based posts.
Provide valuable freebies or steep product discounts, and always think about what your market wants as opposed to what you are trying to accomplish.
2. Optimize your “About Us” page
There are two things you should know about improving your industry influence by optimizing the “About Us” page on your website or blog:
Every day, more than 200 million people search for someone’s name on Google.
On the majority of websites and blogs, small and large, personal and professional, the “About Us” page is the No. 1 or No. 2 most viewed.
Why? Because human beings are more attracted to, and view as trustworthy, people rather than companies. Make sure your full name and all your industry accolades are listed on your “About Us” page.
- Include a lot of content that uses industry keywords and phrases.
- Talk about your achievements from a viewpoint of how they have helped your customers and others in your market. Do not just scribble a few lines on this very important page.
- Add tons of valuable content, and make sure you have an opt-in form so you can grow your email list, and your circle of influence, on this critical web page.
3. Join LinkedIn
LinkedIn has more than 550-plus million business professionals as its members. Of all the social networks, this is the most business-oriented. There is no fooling around on LinkedIn. Everyone is there to seek and provide value, and make business connections.
Once there:
- Optimize your profile to the fullest
- Use as many words as LI allows when filling out your profile, and
- Immediately join any LI groups which apply to your industry
4. Publish content off-line
Sharing your content online is easy, quick and very effective for sharing your message. But it is important to note that most businesses, entrepreneurs and small business owners ignore off-line media as a marketing channel. Newspaper, radio and local television station managers are often starved for value-rich content.
You can provide press releases, reports, industry tips, how-to interviews and other valuable pieces of content to these and other local media organizations. This can quickly grow your local influence and could lead to a regular weekly or monthly television or radio show, or newspaper column.
5. Hire someone else to do all the hard work
You may be busy running your business. If so, there are not enough hours in the day to handle all of your personal and professional obligations, much less taking on more. Companies like Dynamic Signal, Key Person of Influence, HubSpot, and Influence & Company can handle multiple aspects of content creation, content delivery and brand marketing for you.
If you are looking for good reading material, check out “Become A Key Person Of Influence: The 5 Step Sequence to Becoming One of the Most Highly Valued and Highly Paid People in Your Industry,” by Daniel Priestley.
If you want to learn more about how you can become an Impactful Influencer, check back with us next issue.